Chris Paul Has Become The Forgotten Man
The Point Guard hierarchy is something of debate. One man used to rule above all. Now he’s a forgotten thought. Why?
It wasn’t a million years ago, that the hottest debate in the basketball world was “Deron Williams or Chris Paul”.
If you asked 100 random fans today who the best Point Guard in the league is. The majority would probably say Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook or James Harden.
If your team relies heavily on the scoring output from the one position, then the argument could be made for any of the three above. But in the traditional sense of being a playmaker and a floor general, Chris Paul is still the cream of the crop.
The Los Angeles Clippers season has been about as up and down as anyone could imagine. Blake Griffin missed a huge number of games early on. Couple that with Chris Paul’s hand injury and you have the perfect storm of inconsistency and struggles.
The one thing that can’t be overlooked in this however, is the absolute masterclass that Paul continues to put on night in, night out.
His offensive efficiency is maturing like a fine wine. Scoring 18 points in the modern landscape of the NBA seems like an underachievement considering there are 15 players currently averaging over 25 per game, but Paul is also converting his career-high five 3-pointers per game, at a 41% rate, also tying a previous career-high.
The nasty ball-handling hasn’t dipped with age either. The Clippers effective use of the screen and switch play means that more often than not, Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan's defensive assignment is dragged out on to the perimeter. A 7-foot centre covering Chris Paul in a man-to-man defense is like one of those Animal Planet documentaries where the leopard jumps into the water to attack a crocodile and instantly has that “oh ****” moment of realization. Out of its element, and out of luck.
The sheer accuracy and vision of Pauls playmaking is still something to marvel at, even in his 12th year in the league. Chris Paul ranks second in the league in assist: turnover ratio behind only Andre Iguodala. When you scale the number of assists that CP3 is averaging (9.3) to the turnovers per game (2.5) and compare it to the likes of James Harden, who leads the league in assists (11.2) but is also turning the ball over more than any other player (5.8) you see the true value. The level of consistency across Pauls career is unprecedented. No other player since John Stockton has maintained such a pin-point accuracy of creating offense in the half-court.
And that’s all before you factor in his All-NBA level of defense.
Chris Paul is only backcourt player in the top 40 (18th) for defensive real plus-minus. He leads the league in real plus-minus (7.88) and ranks in the top 11 for both offensive real plus-minus (4.80) and win shares (11.79) whilst playing the lowest number of minutes of anyone inside the top 15.
When Chris Paul is on the court, the Clippers produce like a 60-win team. As soon as he heads to the bench, that figure falls to the output of a projected 34-win team. The main difference between Chris Paul and other top guys like Westbrook, LeBron and Harden is the usage rate. Paul doesn’t even rank in the top 30, but is still 4th in assists and 10th in overall PER (25.99). At only 6-foot tall, Paul’s impressive 4.9 rebounds per game also ranks 4th among all point-guards, whilst sharing the court with two of the best rebounding big men in the league.
All stats and data aside, Chris Paul still plays like a superstar. Judging purely on the visual test with the naked eye, watching him is still a real pleasure. The way the offense is effortlessly orchestrated like a beautiful symphony. The calculated movement with the ball always has an end goal. You can tell that every blink of the eye is carefully planned for maximum efficiency. And on the defensive end, he’s a menace. A lot of people around the NBA forget that once upon a time, Chris Paul was an explosive athlete.
Various injuries and surgical procedures gradually changed that over the course of his career, but the basketball intelligence has almost made that irrelevant. Not being the fastest, strongest or most athletic player on the floor hasn’t seemed to affect the well-roundedness of Pauls game. His fundamental knowledge gives him the same competitive advantage.
This might be the first time in his Clippers career that a spot on one of the All-NBA teams might be just out of reach, but that’s certainly not down to a lack of individual performance.
He might not have the flashy scoring panache or volume of his rivals, but he causes an equal level of carnage with a level of cool and clever that is unmatched. Forget about Chris Paul at your peril.
